A 34-year-old Kerikeri man has been jailed for dozens of charges, including sexual offending involving young children.
Brent James Ruddell was convicted earlier this year on more than 70 charges relating to the export, possession, and distribution of objectionable publications, abduction for sex, unlawful sexual connection, sexual conduct with children, and for minor drug-related charges.
On Wednesday, in the Whangarei High Court, he was sentenced to 15 years and five months' imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of eight years.
"Sadly, we’re seeing that there is an increasing amount of crossover between those who deal in child sexual abuse material, and those who physically offend against children," said Simon Peters, chief customs officer - child exploitation operations team.
"Today’s sentencing is further evidence of the strength of a joint-agency approach to stopping child sexual exploitation, and increasing the safety of victims and our communities."
New Zealand Customs says Operation Blackhawk began when Customs started investigating a Kiwi who uploaded child sexual exploitation images onto social media. This was linked to Ruddell's home address. He was arrested and his electronic devices were seized in November 2019.
Specialists found 1191 child sexual exploitation images and videos on devices, and Customs says the evidence suggested Ruddell produced some of the material himself.
Over the course of a week, Taskforce Ruru worked full time on the case, identifying five child victims.
"Child sexual exploitation images and videos are often crime scenes of abuse occurring at the time, sometimes in the most horrible ways imaginable," said Peterson.
"It’s therefore inaccurate and demeaning to refer to such publications as child pornography, as these children are re-victimised every time the images or videos of their abuse are viewed."
Detective Inspector Rhys Johnston from Northland Police says the man upended the lives of several families and his actions had a lasting impact.
"The nature of offending by this predator was horrific and our absolute priority was identifying the children involved as quickly as possible," Johnston said.
"Our highly motivated Northland Child Protection Team worked swiftly to ensure that the victims involved were safe from future abuse and that they and their families were provided with all available support and welfare.
"This case serves as a warning to child sex offenders that there is a highly effective international network that New Zealand is well-connected to, to detect offenders trading objectionable material online. Through our multi-agency approach with our partners, we are able to hold these offenders to account and get justice for our innocent victims."
Customs says if you have concerns or suspicions about an individual who may be trading in or producing child sexual abuse images or videos, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
If you are, or know of, someone who is at risk or being sexually abused, contact Police immediately.
